Newsletter of Bal Sabha of Columbia, MO January 2000 Republic Day Issue Volume 3, Issue 1 who train canopied oxen to dance, perform in the streets. Another attraction in this state is Bommala koluvu, where many clay EDITOR’S NOTE and wooden figurine along with other dolls are arranged artistically. Friends and Welcome to the very first Bal Sandesh Middle School. neighbors are invited to see them. issue of the new millennium. This issue is The editorial staff has been discussing The third day is Kanuma. In Tamil Nadu as usual, a colorful mixture of great minds innovative ways to encourage youngsters this day is called Mattu Pongal. The at work. It includes articles about Indian to cultivate their creative skills and are in agrarian community that thankfully Architecture, Goddess Saraswati, the process of developing contest(s). acknowledges the participation of animals Sankranti festival, and many puzzling Winning entries from these competitions like bulls in ploughing the fields celebrates riddles, amongst other fascinating articles. may be featured in the next issue of Bal it. Bull fights and cockfights are a common We have invited two articles from adult Sandesh. These competitions may feature sight in villages. This day is dedicated to supporters that we felt would be of interest essay writing and/or art work. Guidelines the worship and respect of cattle. The to our readership. This issue includes and competition details will be announced horns of the cattle are decorated with articles on Women in Science and shortly at a future Bal Sabha meeting (and kumkum and turmeric. Pongal is offered to Engineering by Prof. Meera through electronic mailings). the cattle to eat. The same is done on the Chandrasekhar; and on Diabetes by Prof. I hope that you find this issue of Bal following day, which is called Kanya Ramesh Khanna. Sandesh a treat for your literary senses, Pongal or Mukkanuma in Andhra Pradesh. In addition, we would like to convey our and that you enjoy it as much as our In Gujarat, a special sweet for this best wishes to the previous editors of Bal contributors had writing it[ occasion is made with sesame seeds and Sandesh, and hope to continue the good jaggery. Flying kites is an exciting sport, work started by Tara Chandrasekhar, Greg which is enjoyed by one and all during this Jashnani, and Ansu Satpathy. Our new period. editors are Runjhun Misra, a junior at The Sun enters the Makara raasi (the Hickman High School; Lavanya Palavalli, a Zodiac sign, Capricorn) on Sankranti day junior at Hickman High School; and Runjhun Misra signifying the onset of Uttarayana Vellore Arthi, a seventh-grader at Smithton Junior, Hickman High School punyakala. Traditionally this period is considered an auspicious time. The veteran Bhishma of Mahabharata chose to die during this period. After giving up his Sankranti fight with Arjuna in the battle of Anupama Taduri Kurukshetra, he slept on a bed of arrows till Eighth Grade, West Junior High School this period. It is believed that people who die during this period have no rebirth. It is also during Sankranti that people tell the ankranti is an important harvest story of how Krishna lifted the hill S festival for Andhras, Kannadigas, and Govardhan on his little finger and saved his Tamilians and for people in some parts of fellow mates[ Northern India like Maharashtra and Gujarat. On this occasion the elements of nature such as Sun (source of all energy in the universe), and rain are given all importance. This is a festival based on the solar calendar. During this period, houses are spruced up and cattle are decorated . clothes are worn. Housewives prepare Bal Sabha The festival gaiety lasts for 3 or 4 days. mouth-watering delicacies. of Columbia, Missouri Sankranti is celebrated in a similar The second day is Sankranti; also called fashion all over India. Front yards are Surya Pongal in Tamil Nadu, which is THANK YOU cleaned up and women draw a variety of dedicated to the Sun. On this day, pongal This issue of Bal Sandesh has been made floral patterns ( called muggulu or (rice cooked in milk and jaggery) is offered Rangoli). The first day is called Bogi. It is possible through financial sponsorship from: to the Sun by all South Indians. devoted to Indra, the rain god. People Incidentally, pongal means boiling over. Days Inn/Travelodge wake up early in the morning to set up a People in Karnataka distribute sugarcane Howard Johnson/Panda Pals bon fire, which includes old clothes, and acchu (sugar candy) with sesame India’s Rasoi firewood and agricultural waste. This is seeds. In Andhra, Daasarlu or Haridaasulu Taj Emporium followed by an oil bath after which new (traditional folk singers) and some men 2 Bal Sandesh Tri-Yearly Newsletter of the Bal Sabha of Columbia, MO What are the numbers??? Women in Science and Engineering Meera Chandrasekhar, Ph.D. generation ago, one could wander the Starting with a total of four million sophomores in 1977 sciences, math and engineering. While A hallways of a department of physics or Total sophomores 2,000,000 2,000,000 the population of the country is increasing, engineering at any major university Female Male and we live in a more technological world, searching for a woman and end up getting H.S. Sophomores 175,000 the number of people who are trained to 730,000 a day’s exercise out of it. Even locating use it and to develop new technologies is the women’s restroom would have been a H.S. Seniors 129,000 590,000 (proportionately) decreasing. This has challenge! About fifteen years ago the created a need in the economy for people College Freshmen 72,000 340,000 American Physical Society, the trained in these areas. The good news for professional society for physicists, Juniors 49,000 214,000 graduates in these areas is that the published a study that found that about starting salaries have increased rapidly. 50% of research departments in physics B.S degrees 46,000 206,000 For example, the average salary offered to did not have a single woman on the a new engineering graduate with a B.S. faculty. The number of departments with Graduate students 11,000 60,000 degree last year was about $45,000. two or more women was 4%. Physics Where do women figure into all this? A M.S. degrees 10,000 46,000 departments were not the only anomaly. generation ago few women worked. That Engineering and computer science Ph.D. degrees 1,900 10,000 fact has changed drastically. Kids in departments were in more or less the school or college right now can pretty same boat. Indeed, the entire area of Fig. 1. Persistence in Natural Science and much expect to work most of their lives, physical sciences and engineering was Engineering, from Science 1993. regardless of gender. The good news is rather barren of women. This scene has that there are many more women in these changed a little, with numbers creeping up that the numbers in Engineering have fields now than in mom’s time. One can very slowly over the past twenty five years. increased from about 36,000 to 63,000 easily locate female scientists or engineers Why is the female population in these after peaking close to 78,000 in 1985, in any industry or female faculty members areas an issue? After all, women work in while the numbers in the physical sciences in a science department. However, other fields, particularly in the biological has remained static at about 15,000. Math chances are that they still form a small and health sciences, and in the social and computer science are at about 38,000 minority in the gender distribution. What sciences. Many of these fields have after peaking at about 59,000 in 1986. In comes through loud and clear is that female populations of at least 50%, and contrast, the number of psychology women have not made deep inroads into sometimes more. Secondly, what are the degrees increased steadily from 17,000 to traditionally male dominated fields such as numbers and why are they what they are? about 74,000. In case you wonder, the the physical sciences, math, computer I am often confronted with the statement total number of B.S. degrees granted in all science and engineering. “There are a lot more women in the fields doubled, from about 520,000 to 1.18 Fig. 3 shows the percentage of women sciences than there were twenty years million. getting B.S. degrees in the same fields as ago – is there still a problem?” In this What does this mean? The most in Fig. 2. The growth for engineering is the article I will attempt to provide some obvious picture is that more people are most dramatic: from a depressing half of statistics to help understand the issue. going to college and getting degrees, but one percent in 1966 to a not terribly happy First, let’s look at a graph that has been not in the same fractions in the physical 18% in 1996. The physical sciences have commonly referred to as the funnel graph more than doubled from 14 to 37%, (Fig. 1). This graph comes from studies of primarily because of increased enrollments a group of four million students who were in chemistry. Math and computer science 300 sophomores in 1977. It followed them are pretty flat – about 33% all the way. over a period of 15 years. Of two million 250 The numbers for master’s and doctoral (each) female and male sophomores, only degree recipients shows that women form Psychology 6.5% of the women took science as high 200 a smaller fraction of a small number.